


The Empress of Mean

by ArtXyra



Series: The Empress of Mean [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Akumatized Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Anti-Adrien, F/M, Platonic Relationships, ml salt, queen of mean au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2019-08-31
Packaged: 2020-10-07 21:16:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20457965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtXyra/pseuds/ArtXyra
Summary: Inspired from the Descendants 3 song "Queen of Mean".Marinette has had enough, her friends have betrayed her, her heart is broken, and what's worse is that this all started because of the annual school dance.





	The Empress of Mean

**Author's Note:**

> So I finally created an AO3 account and decided to pull this from my Tumblr (@ArtXyra).

The day started off fine and calm for the two teens in the bedroom of the black-haired with blue tips male. Kagami had some free time and decided to spend with Luka and Marinette, but when Marinette wasn’t answering their calls worry began to set in.

“Luka, I’m telling you, something is wrong with Marinette,” Kagami speaks with a hint of concern in her monotone voice.

“You’re right, her music has shifted to something dark.” He hums a soft tone to think.

A loud knock is heard on the window, Luka moves to see what caused such noise. Master Fu? Luka waves towards Kagami to come closer; Kagami sneaks over. Her nerves calm down when she caught sight of the small figure of the current Miraculous Guardian. Luka opens the window and helps the poor man inside.

“Master Fu, is everything okay?” Luka asks but when he saw the distant look in his master’s eyes, it was then that he knew. “It’s Marinette isn’t it.”

Master Fu nods, “Those classmates of hers finally broke her. Hawkmoth sent an akuma and she accepted it. Thankfully, she on a mission that doesn’t follow the path of his desires.”

Luka glance at Kagami, who nods and turns to her attention back to the master. “What do you need us to do?” She accepts the challenge even if that meant defeating her best friend.

Master Fu hands the two their miraculous. Never had they once thought that would have to battle Marinette, their friend, the sweetest and kindest person to ever walk the streets of Paris. Kagami takes the dragon miraculous and put it on as Luka does the same with the snake.

“Find her and bring her back to us.” Master Fu requests as the two chosen say their magic words and transformed.

Leaving the houseboat, Viperion heads towards the school as Tatsuo heads over to the bakery. It was better for them to split instead of being together in case something goes wrong.

As Viperion approaches the school, he notices that something was wrong. It wasn’t long before he saw what the Empress of Mean was doing to Adrien Agreste, a male that he was exactly friends with but made do because of Marinette. He waits until she was alone.

“Marinette!” He shouts catching her attention.

Two Months Prior:

Kagami and Luka knew that something was wrong when they saw Marinette standing outside in the rain by herself. Luka immediately takes off his jacket to warm the poor teen up as Kagami quickly moves her umbrella over her.

“What happened?” Kagami asks, then a light bulb went off in her head, “Wasn’t Agreste supposed to walk you home today?”

Marinette silently nods, tears roaming down her face at the mention of his name.

“Let’s get you home and warmed up,” Luka suggests and Kagami quickly agreed.

The small group of three made it to the bakery within a minute, Sabine caught sight of her drenched daughter and quickly usher them into the back. Grabbing a heating blanket, she places it around her daughter and looks at the two dark heads for some answers.

“We don’t know what happened today, Mme. Cheng, all we know was that Adrien promised to walk her home today but from what it looks like either something came up or he ghosted her.” Luka explains as Kagami comforts Marinette in the best way that she can.

Sabine silently growls at that explanation and took a breather. “This isn’t the first time this happened since those two started seeing each other, but she keeps vouching for him.” Sabine couldn’t understand why her daughter was continuously doing this to herself.

“Mme. Cheng, we can watch her while you maintain the bakery. I’ll make sure everything goes smoothly.” Kagami sincerely offers the worried mother. Sabine nods and walks out of the room with the promise of hot tea.

Kagami looks towards Marinette and sighs in disbelief. “Marinette, you have to leave him. This is doing nothing for your mental health especially with what’s going on in that classroom of yours.”

Marinette regains her sense and pulls the blanket closer, “I got a text saying that he would be right out, but then a minute or so later, he texted me saying that something had come up and that I should head home by myself with the promise of stopping by later.”

Kagami scowls and looks to Luka for help. Luka started humming a soft tune that would match the volume of a lullaby. “Should I talk to Agreste, this is not the way of courtship.” Kagami crosses her arms while Luka could only silently agree.

“I’ll be fine, I promise.” Marinette’s smile was dull, it didn’t even reach her eyes.

“Luka and I have somewhere to be tonight. If you want, we can come over and watch movies.” Kagami suggests trying to move the conversation away from the Agreste model.

“You don’t have to do that. You know Okaasan will freak if you’re not home by a certain time.” Marinette refuses the offer.

“You and I both know 母, treats you like a daughter just as much as she does me.” Kagami counters with a small, yet quick smile. “Call us if you need anything. I mean it.”

Marinette lets out a short giggle and nods. Sabine walks in with a cup of tea for the three teens. When she saw that the Kagami and Luka were leaving, she insisted that they take the tea to go and say hello to their mothers for her. Kagami and Luka promise and takes the tea. Sabine turns her attention to her daughter and places the warm cup of tea in her hand.

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?” Sabine asks as Marinette takes a sip.

“Yes Maman, I don’t want to talk about it.” Marinette hesitates for a second but stays firm with her answer.

“Alright then, you get yourself warmed up and I’ll call you down for dinner when it’s ready.” Sabine gently places a kiss on her daughter’s temple and walks away.

Marinette takes another sip of her tea, sets it down, and push the blanket away. She makes her way up the stairs, only to sit down next to the trap door.

You need to leave him.

Your relationship isn’t healthy.

Her mind is plagued by the words of those closest to her about her relationship with Adrien. Yes, it was freshly new, but she didn’t care. Marinette was able to snatch the boy of her dreams. Her biggest accomplishment against all the drama at Collège Françoise Dupont.

“You need to rest Marinette,” Tikki advises her chosen knowing that today’s event will plague the mind of the teen. “Remember you have patrol tonight.” She must get model out of the bluenette’s mind and what better way than to mention patrol.

Marinette hums in agreement and trudges over to the chaise, she lays down. She closes her eyes and within minutes her breathing evens. Tikki flies over to the chest to grab a blanket and place it over the sleeping teen. Making sure that the alarm was set, Tikki cuddles her way into the arms of her chosen and finding comfort in the teen’s breathing.

Nightly patrols haven’t been the same with Chat Noir’s constant disappearing acts and reappearing only when the trouble has subdued. Ladybug sits on top of a random roof, checking her yoyo for messages from her partner. Nothing has been sent.

Another night alone, I guess. Ladybug gets up and goes into a running start to jump onto the next roof.

Ladybug thoroughly examines the area; nothing was catching her trained eye. If nothing was going to happen, she might as well head home for the night, but this odd feeling in the back of her mind said to stay and continue for another hour or two. When have her nerves ever let her down before?

Ladybug jumps across of few more buildings staying out of the streetlights and citizen eye sights. She rests for a second before a chill went down her spine. Quickly, she gets into a defense position.

“Good evening, milady.” A certain flirty cat finally decided to show up.

Getting out of her position, she straightens herself out and mentally prepares herself to yell out her partner. “You’re late, and I’m just about to be done.” Ladybug folds her arms and waits for his answer.

“Oh c’ mon, Bugaboo, please don’t be mad at me. I knew you could handle a few hours alone.” Chat Noir attempts to reason.

“Chat, this is no time for fun and games. I messaged you six times to see if you were coming and I heard nothing.” Ladybug scowls and turns around. “You can handle a few hours by yourself, I’m heading home.”

“Milady, wait!” The black cat hero shouts, but it was too late, Ladybug had jumped down the building and disappeared into the night. He pouts, kicks some debris around before extending his baton. “She never stays long enough for me to explain” He groans and jumps onto a different roof to continue the patrol over Paris.

When Marinette snuck back into her room that night, she wanted to scream. How could her partner have fallen so short in just a few months?

She hands Tikki her cookie jar and makes her way up the stairs to the bed. Marinette yawns and tosses herself onto the bed, not being bothered that she was still in her day clothes. Tikki finishes the last cookie and settles down next to the now sleeping teen.

The next morning, Marinette barely even heard her alarm go off. In fact, if it wasn’t for Tikki, she probably would have slept through it like normal. Getting herself ready for the day took some time. She had to mentally prepare herself for whatever lies would come out of Lila Rossi’s mouth, the usual reminder from Adrien that they had to keep their relationship on the down-low along with not exposing Lila and Alya inconsistent bullying towards her person. So far, everything has been okay.

Making sure that Tikki, had her usual package of cookies in her purse, Marinette takes her seat next to Alya, who at any moment of the day would trade her in for Lila. Speaking of Lila, the pathological liar herself enters the room with the brightest, yet fakest smile Marinette has ever seen. Behind the liar stood Adrien, who takes his seat in front of her.

“You wanna tell what happened yesterday?” Marinette whispers over his shoulders, wanting to give him the benefit of doubt for his behavior.

“I’m so sorry, Mari, Natalie called me about a last-minute photo shoot.” He whispers to the bluenette, who nods and leans back into her seat.

Mlle. Bustier walks into the class and immediately starts taking attendance. When she got to Marinette’s name on the list, she was surprised to see her student on time for once. She was showing what it means to be the class representant.

“Good morning, class; today I have exciting news for you all. All teachers just got the word for the annual school dance that will be happening in two months.” The class goes wild. “Quiet down, I still need to give you the theme. This year’s theme is royalty” Mlle. Bustier then allows the class to break into small discussions about the dance.

“Vote for me for Queen!” Lila shrieks to her loyal peers. Was she really handing out fliers to them?

“Mlle. Rossi, the ballets for King and Queen hasn’t opened yet; however, there will an announcement posted on our school’s website.” Mlle. Bustier calls attention to before turning to the board. “Now for today’s lesson…”

Marinette tries her best to pay attention to the class, but she was getting distracted by the design plans for her dress. She wants it to be perfect for the event. A gown that would scream, she’s a queen of all fashion.

Class ends and Marinette couldn’t help but wonder if Adrien would ask her or should she just assume that they go as a couple.

The moment when Marinette was out of hearing range, Adrien pulls Nino aside. Nino gives his friend a concerned look.

“I need your help,” Adrien asks rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sure, I’ll help you, dude,” Nino responds making Adrien smile. “What do you need?”

Adrien explains his plan to ask a certain girl to the dance.

“Whoa, dude, you sure she’ll love it?” Nino was skeptical. The plan was out there, and someone will end up being hurt. There is a lot of girls that would give anything to be Adrien’s date.

“I’m sure of it. Also, can you get Alya to help you plan the courtyard while I figure out my speech and outfits.” Nino could hear the desperate pleas hidden in the blonde’s voice.

“She’ll agree seeing it’s for her best friend and all.”

Their conversation ended and Adrien goes into the bathroom as Plagg was poking his chosen from his hiding spot.

“What was that for, Plagg?” He nearly yelled at the Kwami of Destruction.

“Your plan is stupid and the girl your claim to love will get hurt.” Plagg scowls, glaring at how idiotic his chosen has become over the last several months.

“No, she will understand, Marinette always understands.” Adrien counters with a sly smile thinking about his Princess.

“Then stop whatever plan you have in mind and stop playing with her heart.” Plagg hisses hoping that the blonde teen would get the message.

“Everything will be fine, Plagg. Marinette wouldn’t hold this against me, and everything would be back to normal.” Adrien, in his oblivious haze, couldn’t understand the meaning behind the words of his kwami.

“Ugh…why do I even bother?” Plagg groans as he flies back into his hiding stop as the first bell rang for class.

When Marinette returns home, Kagami and Luka were waiting for her at the bakery’s waiting area, talking amongst themselves.

“Hey, you guys are early.” Marinette set her purse down and joins them on the couch. “Did you hear the news?”

Kagami turns to Luka then back at her bluenette friend. “You mean about that dance. Then yes, unfortunately, I will not be able to make as it is the same week as a tournament my mother schedule.”

Marinette’s mood slight deflates, “Are you sure you can’t come? It would be nice to talk to people that don’t talk about me behind my back.”

Luka pats the Marinette’s hand, “I’m sure you will be fine. The dance isn’t for two months, maybe they will change.” Luka’s words didn’t make Marinette feel any better.

“Well, I do have an idea of what my dress would look like.” Marinette pulls out her tablet and turns it on.

“Show us,” Kagami demanded in a somewhat playful manner.

Marinette shows the two an outline for a long-sleeved trumpet style gown with a large slit on the side. She has small notes dictating which color should be used, such as pink and silver, the type of fabric she needs to buy, and the different types of patterns that would be used.

“You never cease to surprise me, Marinette,” Luka whispers examining the design. “You sure you’ll have time to create the gown?” He looks up and saw that Marinette winced a little bit.

“I can but I would have to sacrifice a weekend or two.” Marinette shrugs taking her tablet back and setting it aside.

“Did he ask you?” Kagami queried to the fashion designer.

Marinette shoulders slouch and she lightly grabs onto her right forearm. “He didn’t.” before Kagami could get angry she adds on, “There’s still time for him to ask.”

Kagami didn’t want to accept the answer but she also didn’t want to burst the young fashion designer’s dreams of being Adrien Agreste’s date. “Okay, but keep us up to date about anything.”

Marinette smiles and nods.

Waving goodbye to her two good friends, Marinette quickly runs up the stairs to get started on the dress.

Adrien was getting weary of the upcoming event he’s been planning, there were only two weeks before the school dance. His mind was clouded with his proposal words and how much trust he put into his two best friends into making such an event happen when the time is right.

“Remember Adrien, your father wishes for Mlle. Rossi to come to the studio for her dress fitting.” Natalie reminded her charge. Adrien nods and walks over to the school’s steps where Nino and Alya stood.

“Hey, guys is everything going according to plan.” He asks.

“Yep, and whoever is your lucky lady would be in for a surprise.” Alya gloats adding a wink towards the blonde.

“Thank you, the pressure has been getting to me as we get closer to the dance.” Adrien rubs the back of his neck and tries to keep the conversation going.

Alya is the first to notice the petite bluenette coming their way and breaks away from the conversation. “Hey girl, I hear good things are coming to you soon.”

“W-what do you mean?” Marinette asks, tilting her head to the side.

Alya chuckles at the oblivious female in front of her and winks. “You’ll know what I mean.”

Marinette looks over Alya’s shoulder to see Nino and Adrien in the middle of a conversation. “We should join the guys.” Alya nods in agreement. “H-hey Adrien, how was, uh—is your morning?” Marinette purposely stutters in her greeting.

“It was okay; you look a little red, Mari, are you feeling okay?” He counters taking a few steps closer to the fashion designer.

“I’m alright, just a little heated and all.” Marinette mentally screams, why were her emotions betraying her like this. “S-so about that dance, are you taking anyone?” If she wasn’t over-heating before she defiantly was now.

“Yeah, I have someone special in mind to take to the dance, I just have to ask her.” He responds with his usual model smile.

Marinette looks down and slightly nods getting the hidden message.

“Let’s go to class, dudes, and uh dudettes.” Nino finally speaks which grabbed Marinette’s attention to greet her oldest friend.

There were only five days left before the annual school dance and Marinette has been impatiently waiting for the moment to come. However, between her classmate (mainly Alya) constantly hinting that something big was going to happen, she couldn’t wait any longer especially with how distant Adrien has been with her.

Everything was set in the school’s courtyard and Adrien couldn’t help but adjusts and readjusts his suit and tie. This was going to be the perfect moment to “propose” to the girl of his dreams. Since the beginning of this plan of his, he had rehearsed his lines multiple times in front of the mirror and sometimes to Plagg, who was trying hard not to gag at every attempt. Prepping for this may have taken a while but it will all be worth it when she hears the news.

Slowly all his peers swarmed into the courtyard, during the lunch hour as promised. Alya had texted Marinette to come to the courtyard for lunch instead of opting to go home. Walking into the courtyard, she was already a nerve wreck. Was this the big event that Alya and Nino were talking about?

Nino cue the music to turn on, as he handed Adrien the microphone. Doing a mic check, Adrien subconsciously knew that someone was going to get hurt.

“This person has been a blessing to our school and has become our everyday ladybug, has treated us with care and kindness. And I wouldn’t want anyone else to be my date to the upcoming dance, you are my queen just as much as I’m your king…” He gets down on one knee and pulls out a green corsage.

Marinette’s heart flutters, clenching her hands together as her cheeks blush with red. This was it; he was going to tell their class about their relationship.

Adrien takes a deep breath, turning his attention to the person in the center of the crowd. “Lila Rossi, will you be my queen?”

Lila shrieks with happiness. Marinette’s heartbreaks, a gut-wrenching cry tries to escape her lips. She couldn’t breathe no matter how much she gasps for air. Her chest tightens as tears cascaded down her cheeks.

Lila joins her king, front and center to accept the green corsage, everyone cheers for the happy couple as if they were the king and the queen for the classroom. Which was somewhat true as they were voted the king and queen for the dance. Lila smiles at her corsage as Adrien pulls in her closer.

Marinette had to get out of there as her breathing was becoming dangerous non-existing. Her eyes dart around for an exit, her mind moving several miles per second trying to comprehend the event. Adrien and Lila, Adrien, and Lila, Adrien and Lila. Nothing in her mind could prepare her for this.

Miraculously, she made it home, but more importantly to her bedroom. Red streaks glisten on her cheeks as she looks around. All she could see was red. Tikki tries to get her chosen to calm down, but her voice was drowned out by Marinette screams of frustration. Glass shatters, papers are thrown, years’ worth of gifts rip to shreds.

It’s a good thing that her parents were out of town for a delivery because they wouldn’t be able to bear the thought of their daughter suffering like this.

They finally did it. They finally broke Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

She was blind to give them so many chances, blind to see the truth behind the model that claimed her heart, blind to see who her real friends are.

Stumbling over to the mannequin, where her snow-white trumpet gown, with rose-pink ruffles like skirt details that look like stairs coming down from the waistline; white laced sleeves that lead into the gem cover embellishments along the bodice, and long length slit that was almost centered, Marinette pulls off the gown and clings to it.

Tikki flies over to her chosen to whisper comforting words, only to be ignored by the distraught teen. As Marinette begins to tear apart the gown, Tikki notices the familiar dark colors of an akuma flying into the room.

“Marinette!” The kwami of creation screams out to her chosen; however, the pleads did nothing as Marinette takes off her earrings and place back into the Miraculous box that found its way onto the floor during her throwing fit.

After months of fighting it, Marinette finally welcomes the akuma, who soon enough found its way onto the nearly destroyed gown. The feeling of anger, frustrations, dies down as purple mist surround the female and when it finally disappeared, the teen takes pride in her new look. Her lips painted black, her hair no longer in it typical twin-tails but now reaching her shoulders with an ombre of dark pastel colors top with a Chaumet tiara. The once nearly destroyed dress now clings to her body with darker than ever colors. The whites turned black as the pink transformed into varies colors of purple.

She was no longer Marinette Dupain-Cheng, she’s now the Empress of Mean (or Empress for short).

Feeling the power transforming the girl, Hawkmoth made his appearance known, “Empress, I am Hawk—”

“Save your breath, Hawkmoth, you can try and take control over me, but you will lose.” The Empress smirks at the familiar glow of the Hawkmoth’s communication power. Staring at herself in the mirror, she breaks the control as an evil laugh escapes her lips.

Far away from the bedroom of Marinette, Hawkmoth roars in frustration. He tries to contact his victim, but the Empress was blocking him. He truly has no control over this akuma. Her rage was too powerful, to begin with. De-transforming, he calls out for Natalie to make a back-up plan acquiring that the mansion is heavily protected.

Back with the Empress, she looks around the room and spots the miraculous box. She could easily give the box back to Master Fu for the time being, but where is the fun in that when the only person that can save her is her. Placing the box in a safe place, Empress couldn’t wait to rain hell on those that have ruined her. A sinister smile appears on her as an old class photo catches her eye.

Taking the photo off the wall she sneers, “congratulations you official made me out to be the villain.” She sets the photo next to a lite candle, “Let’s see how that plays out for you.” The flame slowly consumes the photo and all the memories that belonged with it.

Master Fu couldn’t shake this off feeling he’s been having. It didn’t help that there hasn’t been an akuma sighting in days nor has Ladybug been seen by the citizens of Paris these past few days.

“Wayzz,” He calls out to the kwami of protection, “Can you sense Tikki?” He only hopes that his fear isn’t correct and that Marinette is simply sick or something.

Wayzz closes his eyes, he gasps within the second. “Master, I cannot reach Tikki, I fear something bad has happened.”

Master Fu turns to the miraculous box, this cannot be happening. Ladybug is the only one that can purify an akuma, so whatever happened to disconnect Tikki, it must be bad. Maybe it was time to make some miraculous users permanent for the time being.

The day of the dance couldn’t have been a better time for the Empress of Mean to start her quest for vengeance. For the past four days, she has been plotting her movements, whom she’ll attack first and what punishment everyone shall receive.

Let’s begin with the liar that started this mess.

Lila couldn’t have been happier, her dress for the dance was beautiful, fit for a queen, and hand-made by the one and only Gabriel Agreste. Staring at her vanity she lightly touches upon her make-up and proceeds to place her hair in a bun leaving a few strands out.

“I was hoping that you would still be here.” Lila glances at the mirror and suddenly screams when she caught sight of the figure standing behind her. However, her screams were muffled by an eerie pink glow of dust particles.

The room grows cold as the Empress of Mean pulls the liar away from the vanity. “Screaming would do you no good.” The glow fades away leaving Lila shaking her in the chair.

“I-I’m friend with Ladybug. S-she’ll be here to save me any minute now.” Lila threatens, but her threat was empty seeing as the current Ladybug is the one standing before her.

“Doubtful,” Empress remains emotionless, as Lila continues with empty promises and threats, “I’m getting really sick and tired of your voice, Lila.”

Lila hands instantly move to protect her neck, but the Empress wasn’t interested in that. The thing that she was interested in was the dress. Her fingers caress the gown’s fabric examining its textures and details. “You have such a pretty dress, too bad I hate it.”

“Please, Marinette, I would do anything, just leave the dress out of this.” Lila pleads but it was all too late.

The Empress of Mean shakes her head, “After everything you put me through, you don’t deserve happiness.” A ball of the pink dust forms in her hands, and out appears a wood-like staff with a rosewood color orb surround by small branches of rose thorns. “My original plan for you was a sleeping spell, but now I see you’re too good for that.”

Empress waves her staff and an eerie pink glow swirls around Lila as she panics. The glow engulfs the teen and disperses leaving the once beautiful looking teen to her darkest nightmare.

“No!” Lila screeches as her once precious gown was turned to nothing but rags.

The Empress lets out a sinister laugh, “You better hope for a Cinderella moment because everyone is expecting you at the dance.”

“Get back here and change me back,” Lila demands while sitting on the floor. The Empress shakes her head and waves her staff for a final time in front of the devastated teen.

Within a second, Lila was alone in her bedroom in nothing but a horrendous red-brown dress, a dress she so desperately tries to take off, but it wasn’t budging.

The dance was official about to start and the Agreste limo just so happens to pull up in front of the school, and the king steps out of it in all his glory. The once bright smile that would make Marinette blush only agitates the Empress where she stands on a nearby roof.

Adrien walks into the school expecting to see Lila waiting for him or conversating her latest tall tale, but he couldn’t find her. Alya spots the blonde model for her boyfriend and pulls him alongside her to their friend.

“Did Lila show up with you?” Alya asks with concern flooding her voice.

“We planned to meet here. Do you think something happened to her?” Adrien now was on edge. No one has seen or heard from Marinette in days and now Lila could possibly be missing.

“Lover-boy, I’ve been flooding her phone with messages and known of them has been answered.” Alya nearly shouted if wasn’t for Nino rubbing her back.

“Babe, you need to calm down, maybe she’s stuck in traffic,” Nino suggested to calm the situation down.

Alya scoffs, “Traffic at this time of night? Yeah right. There is a better chance of an akuma attack than traffic.” Well, she’s not wrong.

An idea pops into Adrien’s head, “Maybe I should go look for her. At this point, this is our only option. You guys go and enjoy the dance.” Adrien walks back out of the school, not realizing the figuring standing in the shadows waiting for her moment.

Making sure that Adrien was out of sight, the Empress knew that this was her moment to strike. Making sure her staff was firm in her hand, the doors magically swing open. The music stops as everyone turns their attention to the dramatic entrance of their former nice classmate.

“Why stop the music, I’m only here to have fun.” The Empress fake pouts as she makes her way to the center of the floor. “Carry on, I don’t want the fun to stop because of me.” She waves to the DJ to play the music only for the DJ to panic and run off the stage.

“M-Marinette?” Alya stutters, “Please tell me this is a joke?”

“No, not a joke. I simply just want to have fun.” Empress secretly mocks her peer’s foolishness.

“No, you’re akumatized. Matter in fact when were you akumatized, when haven’t seen you in days and now you show up looking like that.” Alya realization began to sink in. “It was because of Lila.”

The Empress huffs and sways her staff around, “You know NOTHING, so don’t pretend that you do, Césaire. In fact, NONE of you do especially if you think I became like this because of a pathological liar.”

“Marinette, that’s got to be it!” Alya shouted not fully understand her position in this mess.

“Then you truly don’t know me at all.” Marinette slams her staff down onto the floor and immediately the eerie pink dust from before slowly fills the room. One by one the student of Collège Françoise Dupont was turned into stone.

The Empress of Mean smirks at her work and dramatically swirls around and disappears.

As Adrien was heading in the direction of Lila’s home, something ached him to go back to the school. Running back into the school, he froze. Everyone he cares about frozen statues made of rock. As much as he didn’t want to, he found Nino’s stone.

“Nino…” Adrien desperately cries out. “I will find the akuma that did this and make them pay.” That was a promise. Running out of the building, he transforms into Chat Noir and went to higher ground.

Opening the communication panel within his baton, he messages Ladybug. No answer. He growls in frustration; this is not the right moment to go AWOL on him. Funny as he’s been going that for months to his female partner.

Master Fu walks alone in the streets of Paris in search of the akumatized version of Marinette. He had handed the snake and dragon miraculous to their users and hope that they would find her in time. Sensing someone behind him, he stops.

“Well if it isn’t Master Fu, oh how I’ve been waiting for you.” The Empress greets to her master.

“Marinette…” He starts but the Empress shushes him.

“It’s the Empress of Mean actually. Marinette is not here right now, but do leave a message after the beep.” The Empress licks her lip. “Beep.”

Master Fu sighs as he wasn’t used to this version of his trainee. “Marin—Empress, what did you do with the earrings?”

The Empress chuckles, “How cute, you actually believed that Hawkmoth would have any control over me to give him the earrings. They’re safe.” She circles around him like prey. “Did you do it?”

“Of course, I did, it’s the only way to stop you.” He firmly replies.

The Empress smirks, “Good.”

Chat Noir is growing tired. He’s been jumping from roofs to roofs, with no luck in finding the akumatized victim. Ladybug still wasn’t answering any of his messages and he could feel Plagg growing tired. Calling in the transformation, Adrien hides in an alleyway not far from the school.

Plagg hovers close to his chosen groaning about needing cheese while Adrien thinks of every possible being that would want to harm his classmates, no one was coming to mind.

“Hi boo,” He jumps going into a defensive mood as Plagg hides somewhere within his clothes. “You missed date night.”

“M-Marinette?” He walks over to her thinking that she needs comfort and that is was all a bad dream. “How did this happen? Tell me where the akuma is and I can help you.” Adrien tries to reason with her.

“This,” Gesturing to herself, “Has been a long time coming. You promised me a lot of things, and you broke each and every one of them.”

“By why take it out on the class? Our friend.”

“No, no, no, they are your friends. They haven’t been my friends since Lila came back. You told me to stay quiet and let her run the classroom, saying that she wasn’t hurting anyone. But you were wrong, she was hurting me.” The Empress sighs and caresses the model’s right cheek. “You’re too good to be a statue, Adrien.”

“W-what are you going to do?” He asks trying to break free from her grasp.

“It will all be over soon.” She whispers, waving her staff. The pink dust particles surround the model.

Adrien tries to utter his transformation words, but it only came out as a soft meow. A pile of clothes and a small black cat stands in the place of Adrien Agreste.

Picking up the poor kitty, Marinette cuddles him and walks out the alleyway. For as long as she is the Empress of Mean her reign would remain which means she has won.

“Marinette!” She turns to see the familiar snake theme superhero.

“Viperion,” She smirks allowing him to get closer to her.

“Let the cat go,” He demands trying not to make the situation more hostile than it already is.

“How about, no; besides where’s your partner?” The Empress taunts to her competitor stroking the fur of the black cat that was formally Adrien Agreste.

“She’ll be here soon enough, Marinette,” Viperion comments knowing full well what she is doing.

“Well there is only one of you right now, so you gotta catch me to de-kumatize me first. How about that a little game of hide and go seek?”

“I don’t have time for your games, Nette, please tell me where the akuma is so that we can save you.”

She gives him a heart-breaking smile, “I don’t want to be saved.”

The Empress of Mean swiftly waves her staff only for the dust particles to be blown away from taking any effect over the snake-themed hero. Unfortunately for them, the Empress had escaped.

“We may have a bigger problem then what we expected, Tatsuo,” Viperion says walking over to the dragon-themed hero who suit has greatly changed since the first appearance of Ryuuko.

“What do you mean, is worse than what we thought?” Tatsuo speaks folding her arms. Viperion nods which make Tatsuo say in disappointment. “Well, how do we stop her?”

The two takes a minute to think about possible attacks to their friend in need of help. Tatsuo pounds on her hand as an idea comes to mind. “I think the akuma is in her dress.”

Viperion’s eyes widen, “Uh… why would you say that?”

“When I went over to the bakery, everything was a mess but the only thing that was missing was her dress,” Tatsuo explains in which made Viperion groan knowing what they had to do.

“What are the chances of me seeing Mari naked?” It was an off question but he needed to know to prep for the revival of the akuma.

With missing a beat, Tatsuo answers with, “Eight out of ten percent chance of seeing her naked. It depends on what she was wearing before the attack. If she was holding the dress then we’re looking on the low end of the scale to see her naked, however, if she was wearing the dress then we’re looking at the higher end of the scale.” She bumps shoulders with older teen. “You better hope she was holding the dress.”

Viperion lets out a small hiss as Tatsuo makes a run for the rooftops.

The Empress knew that her friends were coming for her. To save her, but did she really wanted to be saved? No, for the first time in a long time she felt like she was in control. No one to tell her what to do.

She could sense the only two miraculous users left in Paris approaching her position. It was only a matter of time before this all ends. Closing her eyes, she summons the cat to her side.

Adrien never thought that she would turn him into a cat, a black cat for that matter. He would meow and attempt to communicate but it always fails.

“You may have broken me, Adrien,” She caresses his fur, “And for that, I can never forgive you. I loved you so hard, and when you blatantly ignored me, embarrassed me, I knew we had to stop. You never wanted to protect me, you wanted to protect Lila.”

Adrien lowers his small cat head in shame. He never wanted to hurt Marinette.

She sets him down and walks over to the window. “My revenge is complete, the dance is ruined, Lila is ruined, and you’re a cat, just like the scaredy-cat you are.” Her voice withers away leaving her completely vulnerable for the moment. Adrien meows in protest.

“Marinette,” The Empress summons her staff and immediately waves it towards Viperion. The eerie pink glow flows around the green hero freezing him in place.

In a quick moment, he adjusts the bangle and says, “Second Chance.”

“I knew it was bound to happen but I’m not down without a fight.” She sends him a beam of lightning, but Viperion quickly deflects the attack by ducking. The Empress growls in frustration.

Suddenly, Tatsuo swings in and kicks the Empress in the chest sending the akumatized victim afar.

“You okay,” She to Viperion only to see the glow wrapped around to disappear. Viperion nods and gets into a fighting stance.

The Empress of Mean shakes her daze away and shoots beams of lightning towards her enemies. Each one is deflected until Tatsuo calls upon her power for the lightning dragon.

“NO!” The Empress shouts, locking the two into lightening battle.

The Empress overpowers the dragon miraculous user sending the hero over the edge of the building.

Viperion screams out to Tatsuo, “Second Chance.”

Time is reversed.

During the Empress’s speech, Viperion gets a hold of his harp and sends a quick message to Tatsuo.

“You won’t win this,” Viperion states irritating the Empress.

She walks over to him, gently grabs his chin into her hand and purse her lips then whispers. “I already won.” Viperion eyes widen with fear, this cannot be. How could she already have won when the battle was just getting started.

Viperion smirks and reminds her, “Oh, have you forgotten, I’m not alone.”

The Empress of Mean staggers a few steps back, immediately her staff is activated ready to fire at the missing dragon-themed hero.

Tatsuo’s battle cry enters the scene as she kicks the Empress from behind. “It so nice to see you again, Empress.” She mockingly greets.

“Ugh, why you.” Summoning the powers of the staff, the Empress shoots lightening only for it to be countered by Tatsuo’s own lightning abilities.

The two struggles to maintain control.

Seeing how much effort Empress is putting into her staff, Viperion starts to play the harp to distract the Empress of Mean from the heated battle.

The music began to soothe the ombre haired villain, and the two heroes could see that. Memories of her time with Kagami and Luka flashed before her eyes enabling the lightening to be less effective.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette.” Tatsuo silently whispers.

The dragon theme hero readies her sword and dashes over to the Empress with striking speed.

“No!” The Empress cries out as the sword lashes through her dress. She wasn’t fast enough to reuse her staff leaving her to watch as pieces of the dress fall to the ground.

Purple mist surrounds the teen before dissipating into nothing leaving a knocked-out Marinette in its mist. Viperion quickly goes to bring the girl into his arms as Tatsuo goes to grab the freed akuma that was flying away.

“It’s over, Marinette, it’s all over.” He whispers to the sleeping teen.

“We to need de-akumized the akuma, but we’ll need Ladybug to do that,” Tatsuo states looking over the three living beings in the area. The cat meows, strutting over to sit in Marinette’s lap only to be blocked by Viperion.

“Haven’t you caused enough damage to her?” He seethes, glaring at the black cat.

“You did well, Tatsuo and Viperion, but I fear that something is wrong with Marinette. She’s been the Empress of Mean for days compared to your old foes. It’s impossible to tell how this will affect her.” Master Fu makes his appearance known to the group.

“What do you mean?” Tatsuo asks.

“I fear that her life is in danger if we don’t work quickly. Viperion, grab Marinette and bring her to my shop. Tatsuo, I need you to retrieve the Ladybug miraculous.” Master Fu instructed but before Tatsuo could ask him where the miraculous is, he whispers the location into her ear leaving the hero in shock.

Opting to leave Adrien on top of the building, Viperion bridal carries Marinette through the dark streets of Paris and into the massage shop of Master Fu.

Setting her down on the mat, Viperion ends his transformation and hums Marinette’s favorite lullaby. Master Fu arrives not soon after.

“Luka, I need you to grab these items from the back.” Master Fu writes down a list of items and hands the paper to the dark-haired teen. Luka nods and rushes into the back.

Kagami enters the shop with the miraculous box in hand and the akuma stored in a jar in her other. “Is she really Ladybug?”

Master Fu nods. “I need you to summon Tikki and transform.”

“But why me?”

“No time for questions, Kagami. Luka, have you retrieved all the items on that list?”

Luka walks back in with the several items that Master Fu needed to use. “Thank you, my dear boy.” Master Fu takes the items and began to place them around Marinette. He then gestures for Kagami to transform.

“Tikki spots on!” Kagami transforms into her version of a Ladybug themed hero which consisted of an outfit similar to the yakata. She then shouts out, “Lucky charm,” which conjured a teapot into the hero’s hands. She hands it over to Master Fu who sets it down and proceeds to work on Marinette.

Releasing the akuma, Kagami de-evilize the butterfly and then she calls out, “Miraculous Ladybug”.

The magic of the miraculous swarms around Paris returning everything to normal. The student was freed from stone, Lila’s dress turned back to normal, and Adrien was turned back into a human.

Luka and Kagami stand concern for their friend as the magic did nothing to help her, only those that she had wrong over the night.

After an hour of constant worrying and stress, Marinette’s eyes flutter open. She looks around, confusion was written all over her face.

“Please tell me that was all just a bad dream?” She asks in the quietest tone ever. However, the looks on her friends’ face gave her the answer she was dreading. Breaking down into tears, Marinette hides her face in shame. Luka and Kagami pull her into their arms letting the poor bluenette to cry. Master Fu watch with the utmost concern for the next guardian.

“You couldn’t stop it. You’ve been fighting for so long, Marinette, that no one can blame you for letting loose.” Luka’s words could only comfort the grieving girl so much.

“I don’t blame you, Marinette.” Tikki chirped in flying over to her chosen and hugs the girl’s cheek.

“Oh Tikki, I’m so sorry.” Marinette cries out.

Marinette ended up crying her problems away for the first time in a minute. That night she knew there had to be changed from her own choices to the friends she made in her class. Luka and Kagami supported her decisions and help her get past this the incident over the weekend.

That Monday, Marinette was wary of walking into the classroom. She didn’t know what would happen after the Empress of Mean stoned everyone and turned Adrien into a cat. Walking into the classroom, her peers’ goes silent, as she makes her way to the back.

No one would speak to her and she wouldn’t speak to them either. Maybe it was for the better. It was time for her to move on anyway.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Rule of a Queen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24424633) by [Sar61_Sanz6](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sar61_Sanz6/pseuds/Sar61_Sanz6)


End file.
